Quick onigiri tip: Show what's inside on the outside

18 Jun 2009 by maki

Here’s an ultra-quick tip from a Japanese magazine. Sometimes I make a lot of onigiri, for a picnic or a party for example. I usually like to stick to the basics and wrap them in nori seaweed. The problem with that is that they all look the same from the outside, so the only way to identify what a particular onigiri’s filling is to crack it open slightly! That can get a bit messy.

The ‘why didn’t I think of that’ simple solution: Just put a tiny amount of the filling on top of the onigiri, as I’ve done in the photo. Not only does it show what’s inside, it makes the first bite into the onigiri that much more tasty. I think it also looks rather cute!

For these onigiri, I used brown rice, and my mother’s homemade umeboshi, which she brought along all the way from Japan. Beautiful, aren’t they?

Comment viewing options

What a simple but brilliant idea! Your photos are lovely, especially the homemade umeboshi. They look incredible...makes me want to try homemade, but I don't think I could come by fresh ume that easily in the UK!

My aunt's mother-in-law used to make umeboshi, and they always seemed so special. I love knowing how to make my own, although I have to admit, I'm kind of daunted. But I'll have to give it a try - the picture of your mom's is making my mouth water!

Brilliant! How something so obvious could be overlooked by so many is a mystery. And here in the South there are "wild" plum trees that make small red plums no more than an 2 inches around that are mostly sour even when fully ripened-do you think those could work? I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to find shiso seeds to plant but...I a bundle of green shiso stems in a grocery store in San Fransisco that survived 2 days without water and a flight across the country, and I have been able to get them to root! I'm hoping they will do well enough to make seeds for next year.

I did that with the first batch of onigiri I made because I made a bunch of different types and didn't want to have a "box of mix chocolates" experience, lol! (you know, where you get a box of chocolates and everyone pops of a corner or a bit of the underside to see what the filling is so they don't get one they don't like) It worked out pretty well except for the ones with a bit of very dry tuna salad salad in them, I figured in the future I would just make tiny "t"'s out of nori and put on those.

When my husband and I lived in Cairns Queensland, there were tons of Japanese restaurants, and one of these specialised in Onigiri. My friends and I loved that place (just a stall in a mall type place) and they did something similar so you knew what was inside them.